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| E. Sorensen & E. Bird |
This week was AMAZING. Martes/Tuesday we
had consejo de lideres (Leadership Council) and President gave a super good class
on a talk by Elder Uchtdorf (who is cargo of the mission work for the church).
The talk was called ´´Por tanto, id´´ and it was given specifically for
missionaries and presidents. It explained a lot about the importance of baptism
and a missionary´s role in helping investigators get baptized. It helped me see
that I can work a lot better and harder to help people get baptized. A few
super awesome quotes... ´´A day without an effort to look for new people to
teach is a day that you didn’t complete your purpose as a missionary´´ or
´´be a fisher of men´´... ´´do you really think Christ would send you to a
place where there are no ´fish´ or people to teach? ´´ Dang. Awesome class.
Later in the week, I found a talk in our house called the Donaldson Papers.
WOW!!! I think every missionary needs to read that talk. It seriously changed a
ton of my thoughts and such as a missionary. One of the key things I learned is
that people can only experience and use the Atonement through making covenants
and promises with God. So I’m like a gatekeeper of the Atonement and if I don’t
invite people to be baptized, I am denying them the opportunity to use the
Atonement of Jesus Christ in their lives. So with those two super awesome
talks, we changed quite a few things this week. So martes around 8p we got back
to Potosi from Cochabamba.
Miércoles/Wednesday we went to work. That
morning in my personal study I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish so that
was pretty awesome. I love the Book of Mormon and really truly know it is the
word of God and that it can help us in any problem we have because it teaches
us how to get closer to Jesus Christ and receive His help. So miércoles we had
an awesome day. We had several super good visits. One was with the Flia Flores.
They are a family (Delia is the mom and she has 5 kids) that’s super awesome,
and miércoles in the lesson the mom asked us, “What do I need to do to get
baptized?” WOOOO!!! We were so happy and knew that the Spirit was working with
her. They are super excited and really want to find God and be close to Him. Later
in the day we found a long-time investigator named Rosa. Missionaries have been
visiting with her for quite a long time. But miércoles God blessed us to be
able talk with her about some of the things that she needs help with. She just
had a baby a few months ago, and she was asking us what she should do. All her
family is telling her that she has to baptize her baby in the Catholic Church.
She asked what to do if she wants to get baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ
but is going to baptize her baby in the Catholic Church. So, we had a super
spiritual and personal lesson and read Moroni 8 and explained about the baptism
of little kids. She understood clearly, and it was a really spiritual lesson
but now she is confused/ afraid about what to do. She knows what is right and
wants to do that, but she also wants to do what her family and tradition says.
We explained she needs to get her own personal testimony and make her own
decision. It was a super good visit and we left, thanking God for helping us
talk about one of her biggest needs and praying that she would feel the Spirit
in her prayers and choose the right thing. God is good.... all the time.... and
all the time.... God is good. Later we had a super awesome visit with Carla and
Gustavo (a reference we got from our pensionista). Midway through the lesson
with them, they asked us, “What do we have to do to get baptized?” WOOOOOO God
is good... all the time... and all the time... God is good!!! They are awesome.
Jueves/Thursday we had another awesome
day. We had a bit of spare time in the day when several citas/appointments fell
through. So we spent a good time looking for new investigators. I remembered
that the other Cerro Rico elders (that we share a ward with) had been teaching
a lady that lived in our area, so we decided to pass by and see if the
missionaries were still visiting her. Her name is Sara, and well, the other
elders weren’t teaching her still, but she has tons of super awesome and good
questions about churches and the Bible. So we felt so blessed to be lead to her
and help her find the answers to her questions. Later in the night we had our
Noche Misional (Mission Night), and the ward is actually coming and bringing
their friends. Once again... God is good, all the time, and all the time, God
is good.
Viernes/Friday we had district meetings
in the morning, and we shared the awesome stuff we learned from the consejo de
líderes. We really hope the rest of the elders here in Potosi learned as much
as we did and really choose to apply it and work better. We also had several
super good citas that we didn’t want to miss, but we also had several zone
things to do. Fortunately, God is watching over us and helping us, and we were
able to do both. Man... GOD IS GOOD. We were going to have a visit with Sara,
but she was busy so we ended up having a super awesome visit with her younger
sister. They both have super awesome questions and understand the Bible pretty
good. The sister´s name is Nohelia and she had lots of questions about why we
need churches and why lots of churches don’t agree. It was an awesome visit.
Sábado/Saturday we had several visits in
the morning, but they fell through. However we kept going and ended up visiting
with Melvin and getting to know and teach his older cousin (Cristian). Also
that day we had several good visits with references that we have been looking
for for a few weeks. God is good. We know He helped them to finally have a visit
with us. We had a super good visit with another guy named Cristian. His
girlfriend is a member, but he drinks a lot and never has really wanted to talk
with us. Well, God prepares people before we visit them. He wanted to visit
with us and then explained his feelings and thoughts. He told us he really
wants to stop drinking and fighting with his girlfriend, and he wants to have a
happy life and family and was hoping that we would be able to help. Boy, oh boy,
can we help! :) GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!! Later sábado we had a super awesome
visit with Sara. She asked a lot about prophets and why would God still give us
prophets if He has already given us the Bible. And how can we know that Joseph
Smith was a true prophet and not just a wolf in sheep skin. Well, we helped her
find the answers to her questions in the Bible and then shared our testimonies
of the Book of Mormon and José Smith. She told us she would read and study and
ask God. WOOO!!!
Domingo/Sunday we were really hoping and
calling all of our investigators. Unfortunately not all of them came to church.
But, Sara did come!! and she really seemed to enjoy it. She’s awesome! Also
Carla came!! but she said Gustavo got all ready to come and then got nervous/
scared and didn’t come. Hahaha. However two other people (that we don’t know)
came to church. One of them asked us to teach them about the Book of Mormon,
and the other said his girlfriend is member but that he´d really like to learn
more. Wow!! God is good. We were sooo happy and excited (a little disappointed
in several investigators that didn’t come to church), but super happy with
those who came. That afternoon we went out and were looking for several citas/appointments,
but a few fell through. So we decided to pass by a member’s house that we haven’t
visited in a while, and we ended up finding a daughter and cousin of that sister
who aren’t members. So once again, God leads us to people who were ready and
needing to hear the amazing message and news that we bring. Man this week was
awesome. We worked super hard to help our investigators realize the importance
of baptism and also to contact 20 people every single day. We could really see
how as we gave our all and did everything we could, God prepared the way before
us and led us to the people He needed us to visit. Man. This week was awesome.
I know this is the Lord’s work.
les amo!!
Elder Sorensen
Note: Last week, Elder Sorensen did not write. He was in Cochabamba for Leadership Council. While there, Elder Bird's (a good friend of E. Sorensen's) Dad visited them and took them hiking to a waterfall and Christus mountain for pday. Luckily, we got pictures.
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| Elder Bird's dad, E. Sorensen & E. Bird |
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| E. Sorensen & E. Bird |